madimpossibledreamer

        “Yugi!  There’s tea!” Grandpa calls upstairs, and Yugi opens his eyes blearily, coughing a little.  He’s tired and doesn’t want to move, but he doesn’t want to waste Grandpa’s work, so he finds the strength and manages to pull himself up from the bed.  His steps are slow, unsure, and it annoys him a little despite how much it shouldn’t.  It’s the Pharaoh in him that hates being weak because it puts him and others in danger.
        When he makes it downstairs, he shuffles to the cup after a muttered thanks that he’s not sure Grandpa can hear and begins sipping.  He’s distracted a little when someone starts giggling.
        He glances up, blinking a little, and almost doesn’t realize that his friends are here.  He’s tired and distracted enough that it takes him a bit to grasp that they aren’t actually supposed to be here.
        “Took you long enough,” Tristan states fondly.
        “Are you all right, Yugi?” Téa asks, looking concerned, and he covers a cough.  He nearly goes for a hug but remembers last minute that he’s sick and there’s limits to how generous he should be. 
        “I don’t want to get any of you sick,” he mumbles, voice hoarse.
        “Aw, come on, ya sayin ya don’t wanna play Duel Monstas?” Joey asks, grinning fondly, and Yugi starts shaking his head apologetically.
        “No, I can barely think straight; I wouldn’t be a good oppone—”  And then he catches the mischievous look on Joey’s face and fixes him with the flattest, most unimpressed look he can muster.  “You’re counting on that because you want a win.”
        “Aww, you’re hurtin’ my feelings,” Joey counters, but he winks when he thinks no one else is looking, and Yugi rolls his eyes, feeling cold and tired and a little dizzy.
        “Yugi, we wouldn’t be here if we were worried about getting sick.  Just—if you get me sick, I expect you to play nurse for me, right?”  Téa says with a smile, moving forward to run comforting fingers through his hair, and he’s half fallen asleep on her already.  He’s blushing a little but she doesn’t seem to mind too much when he hides that in her shoulder.
        “Well, we know you hate being on your own, and you have the best game system out of all of us,” Tristan teases, too, and then soon he’s got his head on Téa’s lap and she’s running her hands through his hair and she and his other friends are arguing about the game, whatever they’re playing, and cursing each other, and the restlessness has turned to contentment.

            Anzu’s not a little intimidated when Honda and Jonouchi pop up seemingly out of nowhere and fall into formation beside her like they’ve been walking her back from school the entire time.
            “You’re probably wonderin’ what we’re doin’ here,” Jonouchi states conversationally, earning a glare from Honda.
            “The thought had crossed my mind,” Mazaki admits dryly.
            “Really?  We’re going with the straightforward route?” his friend asks, shaking his head.
            The blond shrugs, looking completely casual, but the both of them are on the alert like she’s the enemy and it’s admittedly scary.  The two can come off as a bit rough, but she’d never considered them as possibly dangerous before, since they were friends with Yugi.  “It’s neva failed me before, an’ I figured she’d appreciate it, rather dan wastin’ her time.”
            Honda sighs again but nods.  “To follow my friend’s lead…we want to make sure you’re not going to hurt Yugi.”
            Anzu is startled. “Why would I hurt him?”
            Jounouchi sighs.  “What we mean is, we wanna make sure you’re good enough for our buddy.”
            It takes a few moments for that to sink in, after which she feels the stupid blush creeping up her face.  “Wh-why are you asking me this all of a sudden?”
            The blond gets a somewhat creepy look on his face, like he’s thinking about something pervy, and she almost slaps him just on principle.  “Well, I asked, an’ he hasn’t forgotten ya, not afta all dese years.  I hope ya appreciate what dat means.  It’s not like dere weren’t pretty girls at our school, but it seems Yuug is a romantic and kept holdin’ out for ya.  So, I thought, and Honda here agreed, dat askin’ ya if ya would have sex—”
            Swifter than she can react, Honda’s elbow strikes Jonouchi in the gut.  He keeps walking calmly as if his friend isn’t gasping, paralyzed, behind them.  “What the idiot means to ask, is that if Yugi asked you for a date, would you say no?  And if you said yes, would you be gentle about it if you change your mind?  He may be stronger than he used to be, but he’s still sensitive about things, and, well.  If you play with his feelings, he’ll get hurt.”
            Katsuya manages to catch up, holding his stomach, but otherwise he’s acting like nothing happened, and his voice is only a little off.  For once, he’s completely, utterly serious, which she didn’t know he was capable of doing.  “An’ if he gets hurt, we have ta hurt ya.  Not too much, you’re a girl, but Yugi’s our friend an’ we’re not gonna just let anyone play wit’ his feelings.”
            She takes a deep breath.  She means to respond to the accusations that she’s some kind of jerk who would lead someone along, let alone someone as amazing as Yugi, but what actually comes out of her mouth is, “He likes me?”
            Honda studies her face closely, then chuckles.  “You know, Jounouchi, I think she’ll do.”
            “Yeah.  De arcade?”  That gets a smile and a nod, as if she suddenly doesn’t exist, and they walk off, and it’s…well, it’s surreal.